Written Answers Friday 23 December 2005

Scottish Executive

Careers Scotland

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding was allocated to the (a) West Dunbartonshire and (b) East Dunbartonshire local authority area as a result of the creation of Careers Scotland in each year since its inception and what this funding was spent on.

Nicol Stephen: Careers Scotland was established as part of the Enterprise Networks from April 2002 and the responsibility for funding the services that they provide was transferred to Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise at that time. This is therefore an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise.

Careers Scotland

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding has been received by Careers Scotland in each year since 1999.

Nicol Stephen: Careers Scotland was formed in April 2002 when it was established as part of the Enterprise Networks. The amount of actual and planned expenditure by Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise on Careers Scotland is set out in the Draft Budget 2006-07.

Concordats

Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish a list of all interdepartmental meetings held in 2005, giving attendees and dates, including those held under condition A2.3 of the Memorandum of Understanding and Supplementary Agreements.

Ms Margaret Curran: Scottish Executive ministers and officials have held a large number of interdepartmental meetings, both within the Scottish Executive and with ministers and officials of the UK Government and the Devolved Administrations, throughout 2005. The details of these are not held centrally.

Education Maintenance Allowances

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many young people in the (a) West Dunbartonshire and (b) East Dunbartonshire local authority area have received education maintenance allowances in each year since 2001

Nicol Stephen: The numbers of young people in receipt of Education Maintenance Allowances (EMAs) in (a) West Dunbartonshire and (b) East Dunbartonshire are as follows:

  

 Academic Year
 (a) West Dunbartonshire
 (b) East Dunbartonshire


 2001-02 (pilot)
 451
 not in pilot 


 2002-03 (pilot)
 552
 not in pilot 


 2003-04 (pilot)
 523
 not in pilot 


2004-05*(national rollout starts)
 664
 376



  *Figures for 2004-05 include young people claiming EMA at both school and college. Prior to this only school pupils were counted as information on college students was not available for the pilot phase.

  National roll-out of the Education Maintenance Allowance programme was introduced across Scotland from August 2004.

  As West Dunbartonshire took part in the pilot phase of EMAs, information is available for each of the pilot years (2001-02 onwards). As East Dunbartonshire did not participate in the pilot, information is only available from the first year of national roll-out (i.e. academic year 2004-05).

Employment

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of people registered unemployed were (a) 25 and under, (b) 26 to 35, (c) 36 to 45, (d) 46 to 55 and (e) over 55 in each year since 1999, broken down by parliamentary constituency.

Nicol Stephen: The source of registered unemployment is the claimant count, which is the number of people claiming unemployment benefits. Unfortunately, this data is not available by the age bands requested, however, it is available by alternative age bands (24 and under, 25 to 34, 35 to 44, 45 to 54, 55 and over).

  The proportion of total claimants by these age bands in October of each year from 1999 to 2005 is given in the tables of Claimant Count by Parliamentary Constituencies 1999-2005, a copy of which has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 38276).

Employment

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of people aged between 50 and 65 are currently unemployed in (a) West Renfrewshire, (b) Inverclyde and (c) Scotland and what the comparable figures were in 1996.

Nicol Stephen: There are two measures of unemployment used in the UK. Unemployment (previously known as International Labour Organisation (ILO) unemployment) and the claimant count. The ILO measure of unemployment is estimated from the Labour Force Survey (LFS), whereas the claimant count is simply a count of those claiming unemployment benefits.

  Unemployment obtained from the LFS using the ILO definition is the Executive’s preferred measure of unemployment. However, for the specific age group requested, the ILO measure is not reliable for detailed geographical areas. Therefore the following table shows claimant count figures which are based on administrative records and are thus more reliable at local authority level.

  Proportions for the parliamentary constituency area of West Renfrewshire are not available as population estimates for West Renfrewshire have not been produced by the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS).

  Table 1: Level and Proportion of Females Aged 50 to 59 and Males Aged 50 to 64 Claiming Unemployment Benefits, June 1996 and June 2004

  

 Area
 June 1996
 June 2004


 Claimants
 Proportion1
 Claimants
 Proportion1


 Scotland
 30,960
 4.5%
 16,145
 2.0%


 Inverclyde
 425
 3.5%
 410
 3.2%


 Renfrewshire
 1,105
 4.4%
 630
 2.3%


 West Renfrewshire
 290
 N/A
 240
 N/A



  Source: Claimant count administrative database.

  Notes:

  1. The proportion is calculated by dividing the number of claimants by the number of females aged 50 to 59 and males aged 50 to 64 (sourced from the GROS mid-year estimates).

  2. Claimant levels are rounded to the nearest five.

Employment

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of men aged 65 and over are currently in paid employment in (a) West Renfrewshire, (b) Inverclyde and (c) Scotland and what the comparable figures were in 1996.

Nicol Stephen: The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is the official source of employment estimates. The LFS was boosted in Scotland for the first time in 2003 which allowed key statistics to be provided at detailed geographical levels for the first time. Thus data for detailed geographies are available for the latest time period but not for 1996.

  Table 1: Proportion of Men Aged 65 and Over in Paid Employment1

  

 Area
 1996-97
 2004-05


 Scotland
 6.3
 7.9


 Inverclyde
 *
 5.8


 Renfrewshire
 *
 5.1


 West Renfrewshire
 *
 *



  Source: Annual Population Survey (April 2004 to March 2005)

  Labour Force Survey 4 Quarters Combined (March 1996 to February 1997)

  Notes:

  1. Unpaid family workers have been removed from the analysis.

  2. *Estimate is unreliable or not available.

Employment

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of women aged 60 and over are currently in paid employment in (a) West Renfrewshire, (b) Inverclyde and (c) Scotland and what the comparable figures were in 1996.

Nicol Stephen: The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is the official source of employment estimates. The LFS was boosted in Scotland for the first time in 2003 which allowed key statistics to be provided at detailed geographical levels for the first time. Thus data for detailed geographies are available for the latest time period but not for 1996.

  Table 1: Proportion of Women Aged 60 and Over in Paid Employment1

  

 Area
 1996-97
 2004-05


 Scotland
 6.5
 8.2


 Inverclyde
 *
 5.6


 Renfrewshire
 *
 8.7


 West Renfrewshire
 *
 10.2



  Source: Annual Population Survey (April 2004 to March 2005).

  Labour Force Survey 4 Quarters Combined (March 1996 to February 1997).

  Notes:

  1. Unpaid family workers have been removed from the analysis.

  2. *Estimate is unreliable or not available.

Employment

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in light of the findings of Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion in Scotland 2005 by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, it has measured the total financial shortfall to the Scottish economy from not creating the right social, economic and employment environment to enable 200,000 people of working age to enter the job market.

Nicol Stephen: The Executive has not measured directly any financial shortfall. The labour market has been improving since around 1997 and we now have one of the highest employment rates in the EU and the OECD. Our Framework for Economic Development in Scotland  is clear that economic growth is a pre-requisite for all in society to enjoy enhanced economic opportunities and it sets the right priorities for achieving such progress.

  I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-21496 on 21 December 2005 which provides further details of how we aim to reduce economic inactivity further.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Employment

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many disabled people over 40 have never worked, broken down by local authority area.

Nicol Stephen: The data requested is given in table 1. These figures are estimated from Labour Force Survey (LFS) data. The LFS, which is carried out by the Office for National Statistics, is the official source of employment and unemployment estimates.

  The LFS has been boosted in Scotland to enable key statistics to be provided at detailed geographical levels for the first time. However, even with this boost to the sample the figures for disabled people over 40 who have never worked, broken down by local authority area are still unreliable for most areas.

  Table 1: Number of People Aged Over 40 with a Disability1 Who Have Never Worked by Local Authority Area, Scotland, 2004

  

 Area
 Level


 Scotland
 19,000 


 Aberdeen City
 * 


 Aberdeenshire
 * 


 Angus
 * 


 Argyll and Bute
 * 


 The Scottish Borders
 * 


 Clackmannanshire
 * 


 West Dunbartonshire
 * 


 Dumfries and Galloway
 * 


 Dundee City
 * 


 East Ayrshire
 1,000 


 East Dunbartonshire
 * 


 East Lothian
 * 


 East Renfrewshire
 * 


 City of Edinburgh
 * 


 Falkirk
 * 


 Fife
 * 


 Glasgow City
 6,000 


 Highland
 * 


 Inverclyde
 * 


 Midlothian
 * 


 Moray
 * 


 North Ayrshire
 1,000 


 North Lanarkshire
 * 


 Orkney Islands
 * 


 Perth and Kinross
 * 


 Renfrewshire
 * 


 Shetland Islands
 * 


 South Ayrshire
 * 


 South Lanarkshire
 * 


 Stirling
 * 


 West Lothian
 * 


 Eilean Siar
 * 



  Source: Annual Population Survey (January to December 2004).

  Notes:

  1. The LFS questions on health and disability reflect the provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995. The LFS broadly classifies disabled into three categories records: DDA disabled (current disabled) only - who have a current disability which includes people who have a long-term disability which substantially limits their day-to-day activities; work-limiting disabled - people who have a long-term disability which affects the kind of work or amount of work they might do, and a third category where respondents have both.

  2. *Estimate is unreliable or not available.

  3. Levels are rounded to the nearest thousand.

Enterprise

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the spin-out companies supported by Scottish Enterprise in the last 10 years have been opened in the (a) West Dunbartonshire and (b) East Dunbartonshire local authority area.

Nicol Stephen: This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise.

Enterprise

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it is directing Scottish Enterprise in respect of planning the training required to meet the needs of capital investment in the public sector in Ayrshire and the rest of Scotland.

Nicol Stephen: A Smart, Successful Scotland makes clear that in planning training initiatives Scottish Enterprise should take account of the findings from research by Futureskills Scotland and requirements identified from work with specific industry sectors.

Enterprise

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-20644 by Nicol Stephen on 25 November 2005, what the most up-to-date data are in respect of the number of food retail premises operating in Scotland.

Nicol Stephen: The latest available data is for 2004.

  I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-17428 on 30 June 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

  Data for 2005 will be available in autumn 2006.

Enterprise

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what views it has expressed to Scottish Enterprise in respect of supporting the economy of Ayrshire, following the summit held by the then Deputy First Minister in Ayrshire on 30 March 2005.

Nicol Stephen: Discussions have taken place from time-to-time on priorities identified at the summit on 30 March. One of the major areas discussed at the summit was regeneration. The Scottish Executive will shortly set out priorities for regeneration and as part of this will clarify the role we expect Scottish Enterprise to play.

Enterprise

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish its report and an update on the summit held by the then Deputy First Minister in Ayrshire on 30 March 2005 and whether it will provide the necessary funding to implement the summit’s recommendations.

Nicol Stephen: The report was issued to those who participated in the summit on 13 May 2005. As recognised in the report, many of the areas identified are either already being taken forward by, or are for, local partners to pursue. Progress is, and will continue to be, reported through engagement locally between delivery partners and stakeholders including through the Local Economic Forum. Where projects are proposed that are the responsibility of the Executive they will be appraised in the normal way.

Enterprise

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how Scottish Enterprise balances its accountability to ministers with its relationship with the business sector.

Nicol Stephen: Scottish Enterprise is accountable to ministers for pursing the strategic direction set out in A Smart, Successful Scotland . In designing activities to promote economic growth, the needs of its customers including those in the business community must be reflected.

Enterprise

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what impact lack of investment in enterprise activity by Scottish Enterprise has on the effectiveness of public spending in Ayrshire.

Nicol Stephen: Scottish Enterprise has made, and is continuing to make, significant investment in Ayrshire. This will be particularly effective when it is co-ordinated with spending by others including the local authorities. The proposal for regenerating Irvine Bay provides an example of this co-ordinated approach.

Enterprise

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to increase the number of people from the (a) West Dunbartonshire and (b) East Dunbartonshire local authority area who set up their own businesses.

Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive is committed to encouraging and supporting more Scots to start-up in business. However, the provision of advice and support for business start-ups and growing businesses in East and West Dunbartonshire, is primarily an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise working with local partner organisations.

  Access to the range of local and national measures available to support new and growing businesses in the Scottish Enterprise area (including East and West Dunbartonshire) is available through Business Gateway.

Enterprise

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the maximum amount is that can be provided to any one applicant to meet the costs of commissioning reports, such as preliminary environmental assessment or economic impact assessment reports, whether there is any requirement for the company itself to meet a proportion of the cost and, if so, what that proportion is.

Nicol Stephen: No maximum amount is prescribed. Where the enterprise networks provide support towards the costs associated with commissioning reports, such as environment or economic impact assessments it is for the networks to determine appropriate levels, having regard to requirements in the Management Statements between them and the Scottish Executive.

  http://www.hie.co.uk/hie-network-management-statement---october-2004.doc

  http://www.scottish-enterprise.com/publications/management_statement.doc.

Enterprise

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown of the 30 largest amounts paid by Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, including their local enterprise companies, as financial support to companies in each of the last two financial years for which figures are available.

Nicol Stephen: Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise are responsible, within the requirements of Management Statements, for determining the financial support that they provide to companies. This is therefore an operational matter for them.

Enterprise

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown of the 30 largest amounts paid by Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise to enable individual applicants to commission reports, such as preliminary environment and economic impact assessment reports.

Nicol Stephen: Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise are responsible, within the requirements of Managements Statements, for determining the financial support that they provide to individual applicants. This is therefore an operational matter for them.

Enterprise

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will confirm that an economic impact assessment should be carried out before any grant is paid for any environmental assessment or preliminary environmental assessment, with a view to saving public money in the event that there is no need for an environmental report to be carried out if an economic case is not made.

Nicol Stephen: Any public sector project should be developed in keeping with relevant requirements for the type of project and bearing in mind the need to ensure effective use of public funds. The order in which the different elements of project assessment are carried out will be for the project sponsor to determine on a case-by-case basis.

Fuel Poverty

Shiona Baird (North East Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has carried out of the impact on fuel poverty of the Scottish Community and Householder Renewables Initiative (SCHRI).

Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Community and Householder Renewables Initiative (SCHRI) was established in 2002 primarily to promote the development of new community and household renewable energy projects in Scotland, therefore no formal assessment has been carried out on its impact on fuel poverty. However, a number of community housing projects supported by SCHRI will have had an impact on fuel poverty.

  The Executive is committed to meeting its target to eradicate fuel poverty as far as reasonably practicable by 2016, and has invested over £200 million in the central heating programme and the Warm Deal. Through these initiatives we have put central heating systems into more than 60,000 homes and insulated over 218,000 and early indications are that nine out of 10 people participating in these programmes are being lifted out of fuel poverty.

Housing

Shiona Baird (North East Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessments it has carried out of the CO 2 reductions delivered by the Scottish Community and Householder Renewables Initiative (a) in total and (b) for each of the technologies supported.

Nicol Stephen: The following are estimated carbon displacement figures by Scottish Community and Householder Renewables Initiative funded capital grants from the scheme establishment in 2002 to May 2005:

  

 Technology
 Community Annual (tC)
CommunityLifetime (tC)
HouseholdAnnual (tC)
HouseholdLifetime (tC)


 Solar Water Heating
 22
 446
 15
 298


 Ground Source Heat Pump
 284
 5,685
 57
 1,146


 Wind Turbine
 76
 1,517
 30
 594


 Biomass
 487
 7,301
 101
 1518


 Other
 174
 2,993
 2
 16


 Total
 1,044
 17,941
 205
 3,572

Housing

Shiona Baird (North East Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has carried out of the average payback periods for each of the technologies supported by the Scottish Community and Householder Renewables Initiative.

Nicol Stephen: No formal assessment has been carried out by the Scottish Executive on payback periods broken down by individual technologies. The payback period generally ranges between ten and twenty years according to both the technology used and the details of individual projects.

Industry

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of manufacturing industry and employment is dependent on (a) military services and (b) the arms industry.

Nicol Stephen: There are no published figures available using standard industrial classification to show the proportion of manufacturing industry and employment dependant on "military services" or "the arms industry" in Scotland. However, estimates relating to MOD expenditure in the UK broken down by standard industrial classification, and dependent employment are available at the national level in tables 1.8a and 1.9 of UK Defence Statistics 2005 which can be found by accessing the attached web link http://www.dasa.mod.uk/natstats/ukds/2005/ukds.html . The latest published figures relate to 2003-04.

Industry

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what geographic concentrations of dependency on (a) military services and (b) the arms industry there are in respect of manufacturing industry and employment.

Nicol Stephen: The are no figures currently available to show geographic concentrations of dependency on military services or the arms industry in respect of manufacturing industry and employment.

Industry

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what strategies are in place to reduce the dependency of manufacturing industry and employment on (a) military services and (b) the arms industry.

Nicol Stephen: There are no specific strategies in place to reduce the dependency of manufacturing industry and employment on military services and the arms industry. The Executive’s enterprise strategy, A Smart, Successful Scotland , highlights areas for economic growth in the medium to long-term.

Oil and Gas Industry

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning was consulted by the UK Government prior to the announcement of a 20% supplementary corporation tax rate on oil and gas producers and, if so, whether it will provide details of his response.

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning was informed of the UK Government’s decision to announce a 20% supplementary corporation tax rate on oil and gas producers; how he responded, and whether he has issued any direct response to the UK Government since the announcement.

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the First Minister was consulted by the UK Government prior to the announcement of a 20% supplementary corporation tax rate on oil and gas producers and, if so, whether it will provide details of his response.

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when the First Minister was informed of the UK Government’s decision to announce a 20% supplementary corporation tax rate on oil and gas producers; how he responded, and whether he has issued any direct response to the UK Government since the announcement.

Nicol Stephen: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-21461 on 19 December 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Parliamentary Questions

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-20684 by Mr Tom McCabe on 1 December 2005, which referred to the answer to question S2W-19841 which was not, at that point, available on the Parliament’s website, whether in future in these circumstances it will provide the member with a copy of the answer being referred to.

Ms Margaret Curran: Parliamentary questions which refer to another question asked and, which is not yet on the Parliament’s website should be sought from the Parliament’s Chamber Desk.

Poverty

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in light of the findings of Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion in Scotland 2005 by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, it has any concerns in respect of wage levels in Scotland.

Nicol Stephen: The Executive monitors earnings in Scotland through the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings produced by the Office for National Statistics. The latest publication showed that median earnings in Scotland had increased at the second highest rate out of the 12 standard UK regions between 2004 and 2005. Also the gender pay gap had reduced from 13.9% in 2004 to 11.9% in 2005 compared to a gender pay gap of 17.1% in the UK.

  Our Framework for Economic Development in Scotland is clear that economic growth a pre-requisite for all in society to enjoy enhanced economic opportunities and it sets the right priorities for achieving such progress.

Renewable Energy

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has set a target for future years in respect of output from marine renewable energy.

Nicol Stephen: While we have not set targets for individual technologies, we are well aware of the tremendous opportunity presented by marine renewables. We have placed on record our determination to make Scotland the global capital for the development and deployment of these technologies. Our overall renewables target is to generate 40% of Scotland’s electricity from renewable sources, including wave and tidal power, by 2020.

Renewable Energy

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what support has been provided for marine renewable energy in each of the last five years.

Nicol Stephen: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-19923 on 8 November 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Renewable Energy

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what financial support is available for the deployment of first generation bio-energy schemes.

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to help set up new biomass plants.

Nicol Stephen: As highlighted in the report from the Forum for Renewable Energy Development in Scotland earlier this year, there are a number of financial support mechanisms for biomass plant and bio-energy schemes. These include the Department of Trade and Industry’s Bio-Energy Capital Grants Scheme, which will part-fund the planned new biomass electricity plant at Lockerbie. The Scottish Community and Householder Renewables Initiative, which is sponsored by the Scottish Executive and managed jointly by the Energy Savings Trust and Highlands and Islands Enterprise has funded over 30 biomass related projects to date. Also, the Highlands and Islands Woodfuel Development programme, funded by a partnership including Forestry Commission Scotland and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, can provide capital grants for boiler installation.

  We remain committed to the provision of support for biomass and we are currently considering ways in which we might support and accelerate a range of renewables developments, including biomass heat and power.

Renewable Energy

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what grants are available to develop the necessary infrastructure to establish the required parts of the biomass supply chain, as outlined in the Forum for Renewable Energy Development in Scotland’s report.

Nicol Stephen: The Highlands and Islands Development Programme is stimulating considerable interest in woodfuel supply. With funding from the Programme, work is already underway in five areas to develop woodfuel clusters and supply chains. The recent increase we announced to the Forestry Commission Scotland’s grant for short-rotation coppice, now up to £1,000 per hectare will also help in this respect.

  Grant offers are also being made by Forestry Commission Scotland under the Bio-energy Infrastructure Scheme to help develop the supply chain required to harvest, store, process and supply biomass to energy end users. Along similar lines, the commission is also now trialling a farm woodland energy scheme. Other sources of aid include Regional Selective Assistance which is delivered by the Executive, working closely with partners such as the local enterprise companies. In addition to financial support, information and advice is available from the Woodfuel Information officers appointed by the commission.

Renewable Energy

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to encourage the planting of crops, including new woodland, for renewable energy.

Nicol Stephen: There are three schemes which provide aid for growing crops as energy crops. Under CAP Reform, farmers can claim aid on industrial crops, including energy crops, grown under contract on set-aside land. Also under CAP Reform, a flat rate supplement of 45 Euros, or around £30, per hectare can be claimed for any crops, except sugar beet, grown under contract for energy purposes on any land other than set-aside land. In addition, the Forestry Commission Scotland provides grant aid to farmers to establish short rotation coppice, willow or poplar as an energy crop under the Scottish Forestry Grants Scheme.

Roads

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to ensure better monitoring, transparency and accountability by local authorities in respect of local roads maintenance.

Tavish Scott: The Scottish Executive put in place Best Value arrangements which require continuous improvement in the discharge of local authority functions, including better monitoring, transparency and accountability. These arrangements are subject to a rolling programme of monitoring by Audit Scotland.

  To support local authorities in meeting their statutory responsibilities for local roads, the Spending Review 2004 provided them with an additional £60 million per annum to help meet their calls for more support in improving the condition of Scotland’s local roads from 2005-06. I would expect each council to ensure that the additional funding is spent effectively on road maintenance in their area.

Roads

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it gives local authorities on how they should tackle local roads classified as being in amber or red condition, as defined in Scottish Transport Statistics.

Tavish Scott: As a result of Spending Review 2004, from next year local authorities will be able to spend an additional £60 million per annum on improving the condition of Scotland’s local roads. The Executive agreed to the need for this extra commitment and it will be up to every council to ensure that the additional funding is spent effectively on road maintenance in their area. I would expect each council to ensure that the additional funding is spent effectively on road maintenance in their area.

Student Finance

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many graduate endowments were due to be paid this year and, of these, how many were paid.

Nicol Stephen: The Student Awards Agency for Scotland have identified that 1,081 students were liable to pay their graduate endowment this year and 929 (86%) had paid as at 29 November.

Student Finance

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many graduate endowments were paid using the student loan option.

Nicol Stephen: The Student Awards Agency have received 695 applications from students choosing to pay their graduate endowment by taking out a student loan.

Student Finance

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of recipients of access bursaries have been domiciled in the (a) East Dunbartonshire and (b) West Dunbartonshire local authority area since the bursaries were introduced

Nicol Stephen: The following table highlights the percentage of young students’ bursary (YSB) recipients who were domiciled in (a) East Dunbartonshire and (b) West Dunbartonshire since academic year 2001-02 (when the bursaries were introduced):

  

Academic Year
 All Students Receiving Young Students’ Bursary (YSB)
 Percentage of Recipients of YSB from Local Authority Area


 Total
 (a) East Dunbartonshire
 (b) West Dunbartonshire


 2001-02
 13,233
 2.2%
 2.0%


 2002-03
 21,870
 2.2%
 2.1%


 2003-04
 27,855
 2.3%
 2.2%


 2004-05
 31,500
 2.3%
 1.9%



  Source: Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS).

Student Finance

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many full-time students from the (a) East Dunbartonshire and (b) West Dunbartonshire local authority area have received bursaries to support them at university in each year since 2003

Nicol Stephen: The following table reports the number of full-time students from (a) East Dunbartonshire and (b) West Dunbartonshire who have received financial awards/bursaries to support them at higher education institutions over the period in question:

  Full-time Students in Receipt of Award Support

  

 Academic Year
 (a) East Dunbartonshire
 (b) West Dunbartonshire


 2002-03
 1,009
 757


 2003-04
 1,084
 746


 2004-05
 1,090
 740



  Source: Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS).

  Students can receive a number of financial awards/bursaries, including travel expenses, young students bursary, lone parents grant, standard maintenance allowance, disabled students allowance, lone parents childcare grant, young students outside Scotland bursary and dependant grant.